The Game Show Forum > The Big Board
House Rules
dickoon:
[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Dec 20 2003, 09:54 PM\'] You will NEVER be able to come up with a definition that I or someone else will not be able to find an exception to fit. [/quote]
I believe you, but that's not to say that it isn't worth spending time on the issue anyhow.
One factor which may be relevant is whether the game would take place or not if it weren't going to be broadcast. The Superbowl and the NFL may be dependent on TV money, but the overall championship game would take place even if it weren't to be televised for some reason, thus it falls on the sport side of the line. While celebrities play poker against one another on a regular basis, those particular games of poker would not take place were it not for the cameras, thus it falls on the game show side of the line.
There are, indeed, some weird outliers. Even I can't work out whether Slamball is a sport show or a game show. (Hey, it got a second series, which is more than many good things in this world.) Currently I suppose it's a game show but if people really do start playing Slamball off-TV and the TV coverage reflects this then it becomes a sport show. The concept of a show being able to change from a sport show to a game show or vice versa is just plain weird.
Mind you, I happily and proudly admit to being a self-confessed game show liberal thoroughly welcoming diversity among the world of game shows (though without necessarily having to enjoy them all) and would like to go round calling some of you traditionalist conservatives in the most pejorative senses of the terms.
Bah humbug,
Chris
chris319:
Dickoon puts an interesting spin on this discussion. Many game shows are derived from existing sports or casino games, in which case the game from which the TV version is derived would not be considered a "game show" and the TV derivative would be considered a "game show", viz.:
Hangman - parlor game
Wheel of Fortune - game show
Scrabble (TV version) - game show
$1M Chance of a Lifetime - game show
Charades - parlor game
Masquerade Party - game show
Showoffs - game show
Body Language - game show
Concentration - card game
Concentration (TV version) - game show
Miniature Golf - sport (sort of)
Hole In One or Two - Game Show element
In all of the above examples the original predates the TV version. Password comes to mind as a game which existed first on TV, then became a somewhat popular parlor game.
clemon79:
[quote name=\'dickoon\' date=\'Dec 20 2003, 05:27 PM\'] I believe you, but that's not to say that it isn't worth spending time on the issue anyhow. [/quote]
By all means.
--- Quote ---There are, indeed, some weird outliers. Even I can't work out whether Slamball is a sport show or a game show. (Hey, it got a second series, which is more than many good things in this world.) Currently I suppose it's a game show but if people really do start playing Slamball off-TV and the TV coverage reflects this then it becomes a sport show.
--- End quote ---
Well, there _are_ games that see minimal TV time, in the form of a quick highlight wrapup during halftime of the feature game, and they WERE played for an audience besides that of the TV taping (I presume), but certainly your point is very well taken, and an interesting one.
Matt Ottinger:
[quote name=\'starcade\' date=\'Dec 20 2003, 02:27 PM\'] I guess I would ask the following: How would Survivor, in a legal sense or otherwise, not be a game show without questioning it's bonafide-ness? [/quote]
Keep in mind that there's a huge difference between our periodic arguments and any kind of legal challenge about what is or is not a game show. Burnett has simply stated that his show is not a game show and therefore shouldn't be bound by the rules covering game shows. So far, to the best of my knowledge, there's been no legal test of that claim, simply threats of lawsuits.
Still between Burnett and CBS, I'm sure they can find enough smart lawyers to make a convincing case that Survivor is a tremendously different form of television than the studio-bound question-and-answer games that the regulations of the early 1960s were designed to cover. One of Steve Beverly's pet causes is to rally the FCC into updating their language to include the so-called "reality" shows. It doesn't appear to be a pressing concern.
Jay Temple:
[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Dec 20 2003, 06:48 PM\'] Dickoon puts an interesting spin on this discussion. Many game shows are derived from existing sports or casino games, in which case the game from which the TV version is derived would not be considered a "game show" and the TV derivative would be considered a "game show", viz.:
Hangman - parlor game
Wheel of Fortune - game show
Charades - parlor game
Masquerade Party - game show
Concentration - card game
Concentration (TV version) - game show
In all of the above examples the original predates the TV version. [/quote]
You didn't mention the first one that came to my mind: Blackjack (casino game) becomes Gambit (game show).
Here's a functional definition for distinguishing between a televised sport and a game show: If newspaper coverage is found primarily in the sports section, it's a sport. If coverage is found primarily in the TV section, it's a game show. (To give you an idea of how enigmatic Survivor is, my local newspaper covers it in the celebrity news section.)
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